11.02.2010

One of the oldest professions in the world... in 3d! Jackass 3d (2010)

Did i actually go see this film? Yes.Should i actually write a review for this film? Depends.If i do write a review for this would i have anything interesting to say? Actually...

Jackass 3D brings back the original Jackass crew to do more of what they do best; disgusting, painful, and hilarious stunts.

Growing up i was a fan of Canada's own Tom Green, this being back when he used to be on public access. In the late 90's MTV caught wind of the hit and run comedian and signed him to their network. Soon after Jackass started up, a new MTV show featuring a group of young 20 somethings doing awful things to their bodies for laughs.It may be debatable to say but one has to wonder if Jackass would exist without Tom Green.

Jackass went on to became a world wide hit, spawning countless seasons and not one, but two films. The phenomenon was a troubling one, what about this show had so many eating it up? Humour at this low a level certainly lacks any shred of intelligence or shame. How base had the mainstream consumers become? The comedy in watching people hurting themselves is for cave men, certainly we have come up a few notches on the evolutionary ladder to enjoy comedy that features a wealthy use of language and complex situations involving human relationships.

But some nights... when the mood is just right and the sun is setting blood red, you can't help it. You wanna see someone get hit in the nuts... AND IN 3D!What's intriguing about this picture (besides the how and why) is that it's been four years since we have heard anything from the guys in the Jackass camp. This foray back onto the big screen demands to be bigger and better than their last effort. Unfortunately, they definitely accomplish that.

The stunts... are too many and too painful to include here, but they don't disappoint. The ridiculous novelty of 3D only makes the experience all the more bizarre and unwarranted.This time around, however, i was laughing for a different reason. Self inflicted injury can only tickle my funny bone for so long, instead i found my laughs coming off the faces from the performers themselves.Wherein past incarnations of the Jackass franchise it seemed that the performers took some sick satisfaction in what they were doing, yet here the rules of the game have apparently changed.Before every stunt their once smug faces are now replaced with the looks of total fear and finally some shame. You can read in their faces that they really don't want to be there.

If you gaze into the abyss of their faces long enough you can watch their internal struggle playing out in their eyes:"I can't do this... I'm being paid a lot of money to do this... I don't want to do this... but the money... fuck it just do it."

This internal struggle that all the players share is the most interesting thing about this particular Jackass installment. We are now watching 30 somethings doing disgusting things to their body that they really don't wanna do. For the first time, Jackass has depth (albeit, an unintentional depth... yet depth still the same).What we are basically watching is non-sexual prostitution. These people are selling their bodies and for the price of a movie ticket you get to watch all the gory glory.

Neat post Kris. Writing Jackass off as just another sign that society has completely tanked is probably unwise. The appeal of the show/films is limited to be sure (but not that limited, it opened with a $50M first weekend, take that, Social Network), but Jackass shares all sorts of territory with other earlier theatrical forms like surrealism, vaudeville and slapstick. Just because these earlier variants are now more artistically accepted, doesn't change the fact that they're original appeal was based on the same general audience fascinations that Jackass has tapped into. Laughing in the face of fear is much more doable if you're laughing at someone else laughing in the face of fear. Tossing convention out the window and completely rejecting of all existing values is a brave and difficult thing to do. Doing it while sitting in a port-a-shitter attached to giant, quivering Wile E. Coyote elastic bands ready to shoot you 200 feet into the air, is art.

Art I don't want to see perhaps, but art nonetheless. If watching Jackass gives just one 17-year-old the courage to tell his helicopter parents to fuck off and let him live his own life, I'd say mission accomplished.

3-D huh? I'm divided on whether not to watch it at the theatre or not to watch it when it comes out on DVD. Tough call.